9. Now Do It Again

Traditional book publishing houses should have seen it coming. Actually, they probably did see that there was the smell of change in the digital-scented air… but they did nothing about it. They thought their old way was good enough and they flapped a collective dismissive hand at the thought of online ordering and e-books.

Amazon now owns about 65% of all ebook sales. Apple owns a significant chunk of the remaining balance. Now the traditional publishers spend most of their time trying to demonise Amazon instead of whipping up their own (preferably superior) delivery systems.

“Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business.”

– Mark Sanborn, Leadership Author

You’ve transformed yourself from a boss into a leader by building a culture within your company that has your employees rarin’ to go. They take pride in their work, and they’re deliriously happy to be a member of your business family.

Now how do you translate that into results that grow your business?

First, you need to recognise that a good start is just that – it’s a start. The work that you put into making your employees feel like rock stars is never going to end – it’s only going to change. You need to be constantly on the look-out for ways in which you can make your employees’ working lives better.

At least some members of your esteemed competition will certainly be constantly evolving their relationship with their team, and if at some point that relationship looks sexier than the one you’ve established with your people there goes your high retention rate.

Second, you need to focus that good will. We’ve already discussed how – by setting up a calendar with your goals and subgoals.

Checking off items on a to-do list can be a tremendous source of morale for your team. It also makes it much easier to see your business’ growth.

Make your goals as simple and as easy to understand as possible. Monitor your progress – if progress is slow turn to the people working on that particular problem and ask them the big question – “What can I do to help?” There may be barriers in their way that the big boss can help eliminate.

Monitor your competition. See what they’re doing right. And instead of complaining about it, set out to not only do the same, but do it better (unlike the traditional book publishing companies).

Get those customer surveys rolled out and make a rating of “Excellent” your goal in all categories.

How quickly do you ship orders or deliver a service? Can you do it faster?

Do you have enough inventory to cover orders or are you always back-ordering?

Do you have enough people to deliver services or are you always keeping customers/clients waiting?

How fast does your company answer the phone?

What percentage of your business is made up of return customers?

All of these questions (and more) are measurable. They all represent goals that you can use to excite and unify your people if you’re a leader instead of a boss.

Recognise the hard work of your employees. Reward them. Help them remove barriers to their (and your company’s) success.